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Canadian hotel plans meetings on Belle Isle boat club

The CEO of a Canadian hotel group that wants to spend $40 million to turn the Detroit Boat Club on Belle Isle into a luxury hotel and conference center met with city and state representatives last week and said he will come back this week for further meetings.

Bob Jackson said the Vintage Hotels group, based in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, has bought 7 acres of waterfront property on Detroit's far east side next to Mariner Park and plans to develop it as the first residential property in the group's portfolio.

He said that it hasn't been decided whether to build houses, condominiums or a combination and that the project would stay on a back burner while he pursued the boat club deal.

Bob Jackson

He said the best scenario would be to open the hotel, which will have up to 120 rooms, in 18 months.

Jackson said his group, owned by Hong Kong-based developer Jimmy Lai, decided last year that it was time to look into Detroit real estate, and he made a trip here in September, which included a tour of Belle Isle and a look at the boat club.

"The property struck me as a real gem. We like the natural setting," he said.

Vintage has four hotels in Niagara-on-the-Lake, two in Toronto and expects to close this week on a hotel in Stratford, Ontario.

"We want to turn this into a four- or five-star hotel. It's a historic building, so you have to do it right. You want to be respectful of the property and its history," said Jackson, who has had renderings made into a booklet that shows how the hotel might look when done.

"There will be a lot of banquet space on the property, and we don't think there's a better place for miles to shoot wedding photos."

He said the property would also continue to be the base for the Detroit Boat Club Crew, which has been rowing on the Detroit River since 1839.

Jackson said the deal isn't contingent on financing or tax credits.

When asked about the project, Robert Rossbach, a consultant to the Detroit Economic Growth Corp. said: "Representatives from DEGC meet regularly with many representatives from many organizations, but they generally do not discuss or even confirm those meetings unless they are presenting something to one of the public authorities that DEGC staffs."